10 questions

Do we commit ourselves right away?

To become a Brother, two things are very important, discernment and freedom!
You do not become Brother in one day! The time for listening and discernment is necessary to recognise the call, to verify it and make a choice. Then comes the time to learn more about the Brother’s life, to experiment it and to prepare yourself for the mission: a relation with God deepens, learning community living, and the concrete commitment in the service of education of the young people. For the religious, the Church has planned to make the temporary vows first, before the definitive commitment after a few years.

Why are you called « Brother »?

“Brother” is not a title, like “Sir”! It is a beautiful name which for us is a programme of life. We want to live as brothers among ourselves in communities and with all the brothers of the Institute together. We also want, like Jesus, to be brothers of all, particularly the young and the poor. And at the heart of our life, we want, like the first disciples, to live as Jesus’ brothers

Can you become a priest?

Jean-Marie de la Mennais and Gabriel Deshayes, our founders, wanted Brothers for the education of the young people. Still today, we are religious Brothers and not priests. It is a different vocation in the Church, like that of nuns. We are called to live brotherhood and to testify of it in a world which needs it so much. The priest’s vocation is at the service of the Church in the presidency of the Eucharist and in the service of the Word.

Are you always in a community?

The community life is central for a Brother. It is in community, with the other Brothers, that he looks for God, that he tries to live according to the Gospel and that he commits himself for the service of education. But the Brother does not live in a monastery; he lives among men and women of his time and works with them for the children and the young people in schools or other educational works. It is with them all that he lives brotherhood.

What are vows?

At the end of the Novitiate, the one who asks for it makes profession; he makes a commitment following Christ, in the Congregation, by pronouncing the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He wants by this way, to follow an evangelical lifestyle, that of Jesus. It is a renunciation of marriage and certain forms of power and possessions, but he experiences that it is a choice that frees to love by giving everything.

What do you do daily?

There is what appears outwardly to the life of the Brothers, their work as teachers or educators in schools or their activities. There is also what is seen less! Every morning and every evening, Brothers meet together to pray in their oratory. They also participate in the Eucharist, often in their parish. They meet together to share meals and moments of leisure and of meetings.